(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
The Nvidia GeForce 310M GPU gives the laptop good enough graphics for most mainstream games, but it's a middle-of-the-road processor that won't qualify as "gaming" graphics for hardcore gamers. On our Unreal Tournament III benchmark, the GPU cranked out 40.2 frames per second at 1,280x720-pixel resolution, and 37.8fps in its native 1,366x768-pixel resolution with medium settings. These scores are good, but they are not stellar. We also played Activision's Transformers: War for Cybertron; it played decently with the Nvidia chip, but it had a slightly clipped frame rate. Though the laptop's graphics will disappoint console gamers, it will satisify those who are looking to just play a few games on their laptop.
 Juice box |
|
| Samsung Q430-11 | Average watts per hour |
| Off | 0.5 |
| Sleep | 1.27 |
| Idle | 13.68 |
| Load | 53.61 |
| Raw kWh | 57.18 |
| Annual power consumption cost | $6.49 |
The Samsung Q430-11's six-cell battery lasted for 3 hours and 8 minutes on our video playback battery drain test. Considering it also has dedicated graphics chip, that's not bad for a midsize laptop; however, we've seen longer battery life from other midsize laptops. In this roundup, the Samsung Q430-11 averaged slightly better scores than average. It also outperformed the Samsung R580 we reviewed in the winter roundup.
Samsung includes an industry-standard one-year warranty with the Q430-11. Its support is accessible through a toll-free phone number weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Central Time, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Samsung also provides support via chat and e-mail. Samsung's Web site has an easy-to-find online knowledge base and driver downloads. Though retail outlets also offer extended warranties to laptop buyers, we generally don't recommend you buy them.
Find out more about how we test laptops.
System configurations:
Samsung Q430-11
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 M450; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz;
512MB Nvidia GeForce 310M; 500GB Samsung 5,400rpm
HP Pavilion dm4-1065dx
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit); 2.26GHz Intel Core i5 M430; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz;
64MB
